Pale Leaf Merchant Guild

Seeing that Gaofeng had awoken from his meditation, the young guard from earlier approached him with a wry smile and made a small welcoming hand-gesture before he turned around and led the way towards the largest carriage in their party. This carriage was a beautifully carved wooden carriage, with red and gold paint elucidating each carved line. The reason these caravans hadn't yet entered the city, was because they had to undergo thorough inspections before being allowed entrance, and thus it took a long time for each party to be cleared for entrance. When Gaofeng came up to the carriage, another guard, dressed similarly in light leather armor with a nearly white leaf as a sigil over his heart, opened the door to the carriage without a word.

Entering the carriage, a nice fragrance of incense could be smelled. The carriage was quite spacious, and there were three people occupying it at present. There was an elderly gentleman who was dressed in a black robe, but still a beautiful white leaf with a tinge of green could be easily spotted on his chest. An elderly woman sat at his side, quite close, so it appeared to Gaofeng that the two were an old couple. She was dressed in a light red dress, and she had a beautiful white pelt around her neck. On the opposite side of the elderly couple, there was a young woman who seemed to be in her twenties. This young woman was wearing a beautiful white robe covered in flower-patterns. The elderly couple seemed quite wary from what Gaofeng could see, but they didn't disregard him, and the young woman seemed quite eager as she welcomed him to sit at her side with a simple gesture, "Sit, please. Let's have a chat."

Gaofeng gracefully took a seat next to the young lady and gave her a slight smile. Then he looked towards the elderly couple and introduced himself, "My name is Shangsheng Gaofeng, it's a pleasure." The elderly couple smiled in return and returned his greeting, "My name is Bojing Xian, and this is my wife" the elderly man smiled towards his wife and in turn she introduced herself, "I am Mei Xian." Gaofeng didn't care much for chitchat, and so he immediately laid his cards out on the table, "I am not from this place. I was banished here by the Temple Master of the current Holy Temple, the power which maintains the barrier between this valley and the outside world. The reason for my banishment is of no matter, as I purposefully set myself up to get banished here with one single goal in mind. I need to get to the Ocean of Blood. In exchange for getting me to the Ocean of Blood and otherwise housing and informing me of the current situation in the Valley, not only will I break you all free from the barrier surrounding the valley, but I will also take you under my banner as my personal force. The offer to take you under my banner might seem arrogant in your eyes, but with my status as the heir to the Shangsheng family, the greatest merchant group on the greater Atamura continent, I can guarantee that you will flourish greatly. We will naturally give you access to our resources, routes, and information which will be critical in your rise. What say you?"

The elderly couple became increasingly astonished for every word Gaofeng spoke, and in the end they had difficulties processing it all. The young woman was more quick-witted, however. She turned to him and asked, "Can you prove your status, and give us reason to believe what you are saying to be the truth?" Gaofeng looked at her for a moment before taking out his family sigil from his inner chest-pocket. When the others in the carriage looked at the sigil they could see the name "Shangsheng" written in beautiful calligraphy on what seemed to be some sort of black scale. Seeing this name, and feeling the powerful aura it carried, the others in the carriage felt stifled. It was like they were looking directly at a god, and they soon had to avert their eyes. This kind of sigil was specially made by the great elders of the Shangsheng family, and to be qualified to become an elder one had to at least be in the Transcendence realm, the ninth major cultivation realm, so saying that this was like a text written by a god was actually not too far off as the Minor Deity realm was only one realm above the Transcendence realm. When achieving the Minor Deity realm, however, one could no longer stay in the mortal realm. At that point one would have to ascend to a higher realm.

Although these merchants couldn't have a 100% guarantee that Gaofeng was telling the truth, they still mostly believed him. The reason for this was simple: why would someone with such a great background lie to this small merchant guild? There was simply no need to. No matter what, the things Gaofeng asked for weren't difficult for them at all, and thus it seemed that they would only profit. Even if Gaofeng was attempting to scam them, they would lose nearly nothing while the upside potential of establishing a close connection with the greatest merchant group on the continent was nearly limitless. After a short discussion amongst themselves, they agreed to Gaofeng's request, however they couldn't agree on the behalf of the entire Pale Leaf Guild, and thus only their share of the guild would follow Gaofeng unless he was able to also convince the others.

At this point, they had coincidentally also arrived at the checkpoint. Gaofeng had been given a temporary identity as a counselor to the elderly couple, who Gaofeng now learned were two of the people sitting on the elder's council in the Pale Leaf Merchant Guild. The Council consisted of twenty elders altogether, and they all had great business sense. And, while not all of them were great cultivators, about half of them had a cultivation at the Heaven-ascension realm, while the leader of the guild had a cultivation at the Dao Consolidation realm. They had also informed Gaofeng that the Dao Consolidation realm was the peak of cultivation in this valley, and that even the City Master of the city they were now entering, called "Steadfast", was also in the Dao Consolidation realm. Steadfast was the greatest city in the valley, built on the ruins of the old capitol of this valley, and had remained undefeated for the last thirty thousand years, which was especially due to the tyrannical strength of the City Master.

After Gaofeng and the Pale Leaf Guild got through the checkpoint, they still had to travel another thirty minutes through the long streets of Steadfast before they reached their residence. This residence carried the beautiful Pale Leaf on all its banners, and even the pain of the mansion itself was in the same theme. There was a large courtyard they had to pass through before arriving at the manor itself, and this courtyard was filled with exotic flowers and spiritual herbs, making for a beautiful sight. A banquet had been prepared for their arrival, and thus they went directly to the grand hall after arriving at the manor. The long tables were filled to the brim with all sorts of meat of demonic beasts, enormous pheasants, golden geese, a spit-roasted boar and bloody beef. The wine served with the meat was blood-red, and when Gaofeng sniffed it he noticed that he could actually smell the slightest hint of blood in the wine. Gaofeng naturally didn't mind this at all, and took a big sip. The taste of the wine filled his entire mouth, and he felt a warm stream of energy being absorbed automatically by Bloodbath. Gaofeng actually felt a decent improvement in Bloodbath from merely one sip of blood-wine, and thus he easily guessed where the blood in the wine came from.

To confirm his thought, he asked one of his hosts, Bojing Xian, "I couldn't help but notice the blood in the wine. Is this customary in the valley?" Bojing Xian gave Gaofeng a bright smile and answered, "Well, naturally! How could one have truly good wine if it isn't infused with a drop of blood from the Blood Ocean? However, blood from the Blood Ocean is very difficult to get, and even when one is able to get it, one can only gather a very small quantity. The Yin-Specters are all gathered around the Blood Ocean, and the strongest of them even live on the surface of the Blood Ocean itself. They act as protectors of the Blood Ocean, and if one takes a couple of drops perhaps one or two Yin-Specters would attack you, but if you dare take a cup or a bucket, then the wrath of all of the Yin-Specters will strike you down. They won't even stop when you leave the area of the Blood Ocean, and will hunt you down no matter what."

This kind of information was exactly what Gaofeng was looking for, and since Bojing Xian knew this, he willingly gave Gaofeng a large amount of information as a show of goodwill. Gaofeng felt very happy with his choice of Pale Leaf Merchant Guild, as he didn't think any of the other guilds would treat him this sincerely. "Ah, I understand. I appreciate this information very much!" Gaofeng said with a sincere smile towards Bojing Xian.